Last week, I had a private pop-up cafe on the patio in front of our house in the forest. I prepared a 100% plant-based and gluten-free Thai cuisine for friends who had a craving for healthy spicy food. From a macrobiotic point of view, spice and coconut milk have a strong Yin energy, so I used Basmati brown rice with lotus seed which both have good Yang energy - as a main dish to help balance the energy. Here's the menu for Wanowa's 100% plant-based Tahi cuisine: ☆ Pomegranate juice (Non-Alcoholic welcome drink) ☆ Yum Woon Sen (Spicy glass noodle salad with greens) ☆ Spicy Thai Green Curry ☆ Basmati Brown rice with lotus seeds ☆ Mango pudding with white chocolate coconuts cream ☆ 3-year-aged roasted Bancha tea Lotus seed, in tonic form, has been widely used in Japan as an herbal medicine since ancient times for preventing and improving women's diseases. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other ingredients that effectively promote health and stabilize the autonomic nervous system. It would be beneficial to include them in our diet. You can buy lotus seeds at a regular Chinese store or order online. You can cook them together with rice. It is easy to prepare - rinse thoroughly and soak them in cold water for 6 -8 hours. Then, split them with your fingers. If there is a sprout inside, it is better to take it out since it tastes bitter. Next, cook them with rice. Add one cup of lotus seeds and one cup of water to the rice and cook covered on low heat for 45 minutes. Another important part of this meal was the Bancha tea I served. 3-year-aged roasted Bancha is the tea made out of stems instead of leaves, which are dried and aged for three years. Since leaves have Yin energy that cools your body, this tea was made only using stems. These tea stems are gentle to the stomach, and have a pleasant aroma. They have almost no caffeine, and a warming effect on the body. So, this is recommended as an ideal tea for all ages to drink regularly every day. Also, Bancha tea is rich in catechins, supports the absorption of vitamin C and improves digestion and absorption. Since catechins also have sterilized properties to fight off all viruses. So, you can use this tea as a mouth/eye/nose wash by adding a bit of sea salt. You can find roasted twig tea/Kukicha in the United States. Kuki means stems in Japanese. Since we are entering a cold season, it would be nice to have good tea in your home. Our grandma used to say, "your kitchen is your pharmacy!"
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Recently, I posted about holistic dentists. It’s been one of my dreams to be treated by an excellent holistic dentist. Unfortunately, due to limited insurance coverage, most of us only have a few options when it comes to dental work. Besides holistic dentists, I’ve also undergone regular dental surgery - extraction of a tooth as well as a bone graft in the back right of my mouth a week ago. It was a scary experience😢 I’ve tried my best to follow a holistic approach as much as possible. This has helped me immensely for faster recoveries. Since taking this approach I have been doing well and was even able to take a hot yoga class yesterday. So, I want to share with you how I take care of my teeth in a holistic way. 1. Choose the new moon! First, I choose the soonest new moon possible for the day of the surgery. During a new moon, the Yang energy of the earth gets stronger, so the water in our body goes to the lower part of the body as the gravitational pull from Earth reaches its maximum. So, if you undergo surgery or medical treatment, it is best to pick a new moon for your surgery date. During this time there will be less bleeding, and wounds will heal faster. In addition, since you are less susceptible to the side effects of medications, the success rate of surgery is higher, and the recovery period is shorter. One drawback for this approach is that during the full moon, our bodies bleed more, and wounds can open up more easily. This happens because the Yin energy becomes stronger. Also, during this full moon period you might experience more side effects from medications. Our body has a lot of water - some say 60-80% of the body is water. All creatures on Earth, including humans, are affected by the ebb and flow of the tides. These changes in tides are caused by the moon's gravitational pull. So, I always try to set up any medical appointment around the new moon. From an agricultural perspective, it's a good time to sow seeds during the full moon. They need less water because the earth absorbs and retains moisture better. 2 Fasting! A wonderful tool for recovery. After the surgery, I went straight home and fasted for a few days. If you are in pain and feel miserable, fasting may make you feel better. Fasting helps reduce inflammation and wounds heal faster since all your enzymes can concentrate on restoring your body. If you eat, all the enzymes in your body have to focus on digestion. But if you skip eating, your body will use the enzymes to heal your body instead. You should try fasting when you feel sick, have a headache, or catch a cold. You might be surprised with the effect fasting will have on you! Some holistic doctors even recommend fasting for damaged DNA repair. 3 Apply the Japanese traditional folk remedy, "taro plaster." After the surgery, I applied a taro plaster on my cheek and jaw area to absorb all the toxins. In Japan, the taro plaster remedy has been passed down for generations. Taro plaster is a unique remedy for feverish aches, bruises, pains, knots, sore throats, mastitis, rheumatic fever, and cancer pain. The Taro and ginger enzymes absorb the toxins accumulated in the affected area through the skin's pores. It is very effective. But there is one drawback. Since we use raw food to make the plaster, we need to replace the plaster every 4-5 hours. An exception to that frequency is during sleep. When we sleep, our metabolism is less active. I apply this plaster a few times a day for the first few days. After that, I only use it once a day just before I go to sleep. After my dental surgery, Miraculously the purple bruise on my jaw and the pain got a little better each day. After a week of applying those plasters, my pain was gone, and the bruise was barely visible. On the day before the surgery, I was careful about what I ate. I tried to avoid sweets or oily foods so that my blood would stay slightly alkaline. Keeping one's blood healthy is very important for a fast recovery and for overall good health. Here is the recipe for this very effective remedy. How to make taro plaster: Ingredients: ☆ taros (2-3) ☆ ginger (1% of the amount of taro weight) ☆ flour (same weight as taros) Direction: 1. Wash the taro, remove the skin, and grate. 2. Grate ginger, using 1% the amount of taro you are using. 3. Mix the taro and ginger well and add an equal amount of flour as the taro. 4. Spread this paste on a piece of cotton cloth 1/2 inch thick. 5. Place the cloth (taro mixture side down) on the injured or swollen area. 6. Replace the plaster every 4 or 5 hours, except while sleeping. Recently, I received the order from Mrs. Y to cater Wanowa's 100% plant-based creations for her baby shower in Campbell. A few months before, she participated in our Yoga retreat, which was held in our backyard. There, she had eaten Wanowa's vegan bento (Japanese lunch box) and enjoyed it so much that she wanted me to cook for her party. She wanted me to create something wholesome, healthy Buffet-style menu for her friends. Here's the menu for the shower. ☆ Sweet, sour beets & green salad with ricotta cheese ☆ Two kinds of open sandwiches - Eggless tofu salad with sautéed mushroom - Smoked salmon style - carrots with avocado ☆ Potato salad ☆ Tsukune (Chicken-like meatball Yakitori style using Tofu and veggies) ☆ Japanese root vegetable stew ☆ Quinoa salad with baked Brussels sprouts ☆ Green tea mousse parfait with a three-layer style (Matcha mousse, sweet red bean paste & sweet Amazake-Kinako ice cream) Thank you, Mrs. Y, for letting me prepare the food for your special occasion. Also, thank you, Y-chan, and our legend chef, J, for allowing me to use your guest house kitchen. I fell in love with the gorgeous one-piece countertops beneath the classic wine barrels on the deck. I loved your beautiful home with stylish Artisan touches everywhere😊 |
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January 2023
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